Books for Music Lovers

From the cultural evolutions of hip-hop music to the rock and roll lives of music stars, both fictional and real, spanning from the Upper East Side to Hollywood beaches, these titles don’t miss a beat!

HIP-HOP IS HISTORY BY QUESTLOVE

LibraryReads votes due by May 1st.

In this book, Questlove proposes a theory of evolution, arguing that every five years, something at or near the center of the genre changes. Sometimes it’s lyrical perspective. Sometimes it’s location. Sometimes it’s technology. To illustrate his theory, Questlove selects songs and artists that exemplify these changes. HIP-HOP IS HISTORY is a book only Questlove could have written, and it showcases his comprehensive knowledge of and unparalleled access to the inner workings of the past fifty years of this global phenomenon.

UNDER A ROCK BY CHRIS STEIN

Available for download on Edelweiss here. LibraryReads votes due by May 1st.

UNDER A ROCK is a rags-to-riches-to-rags story. In one week, Stein went from living in a shoddy East Village apartment to buying a limestone townhouse with fellow Blondie co-founder Debbie Harry on the Upper East Side. And then, due to their twinned heroin habit, that townhouse fell to near-ruin. Harry, in a seeming instant, got sober. But Stein, hospitalized for months just two blocks from their once-elegant house, almost died. Famous names march through these pages—Warhol, Bowie, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and more–but you can get famous names anywhere. What you can’t get in many other places is a plunge into the moments that make a giant artistic sensation. Stein takes us there in this revelatory memoir.

THE SINGER SISTERS BY SARAH SELTZER

Available for download on Edelweiss here. LibraryReads votes due by July 1st.

It’s 1996, and alt-rocker Emma Cantor is on tour, with her sights trained on a record deal. Emma’s got no lack of inspiration for her music—chiefly her mother Judie, a 1960s folk legend whose confessional songs made her an icon before her mysterious withdrawal from the public eye. Emma is baffled by Judie’s coldness, and is deeply shaken when she learns a long-kept secret about their family. When Emma uncovers more about her mother’s past, she is vaulted to new heights as a performer. But the knowledge she gains also propels her toward a musical betrayal that further fractures her relationship with Judie. Increasingly famous, but fragile and isolated, Emma grapples with her mother’s legacy and what it means for her own future.

HONEY BY ISABEL BANTA

Available for download on Edelweiss here. LibraryReads votes due by May 1st.

It is 1997, and Amber Young is about to become one of the most infamous pop stars of her era. Plucked from a small town in New Jersey to join the newly formed girl group Cloud9 in Los Angeles, Amber is given the opportunity of a lifetime. Through meticulous research about this era of pop music, and featuring iconic moments from early 2000s pop culture, Isabel Banta’s debut novel, HONEY, reimagines the pop stars of the late 90s and early 2000s, who we idolized and hated, oversexualized and underestimated, giving them the fresh, multifaceted story they deserve.

SAND, SEQUINS & SILICONE BY PIA MIA

LibraryReads votes due by April 1st.

Hollywood isn’t what I thought it would be. People aren’t who I thought they would be. Hollywood isn’t perfection—it’s lies and loneliness hiding behind smiles and laughter. When the doors close and the lights dim, everything and everyone is fake. I don’t know who I can trust, and I don’t know what to believe. Sometimes, I don’t even know who I am anymore. I came here to make something of myself, to climb the highest mountain of fame possible, to find real love . . . but at what cost? Life is all about balance and with the darkness comes light. I have my family and best girlfriends to keep me grounded, and a certain blue-eyed man I can’t seem to get off my mind, my life is starting to look like a California dream. Things are heating up around here, and for the first time in my life, I’m the one with the power. Or am I?

RISE OF A KILLAH BY GHOSTFACE KILLAH

Available for download on Edelweiss here. LibraryReads votes due by April 1st.

RISE OF A KILLAH is Ghost’s autobiography, focusing on the people, places and events that mean the most to him as he enters his fourth decade writing and performing. It’s a beautiful and intense book, going back to the creative ferment that led to Ghost’s first handwritten rhymes. Dive into Ghost’s defining personal moments, his battles with his personal demons, his journey to Africa, his religious viewpoints, his childhood in Staten Island, and his commitment to his family (including his two brothers with muscular dystrophy), from the Wu-Tang Clan’s early successes to the pinnacle of Ghost’s career touring and spreading his wings as a solo artist, fashion icon, and trendsetter.

HIP-HOP IS HISTORY by Questlove; 9780374614072; 6/11/24
UNDER A ROCK by Chris Stein; 9781250286727; 6/11/24
SINGER SISTERS by Sarah Seltzer; 9781250907646; 8/6/24
HONEY by Isabel Banta; 9781250333469; 6/25/24
SAND, SEQUINS & SILICONE: A PRINCESS NOVEL by Pia Mia; 9781998854769; 5/14/24
RISE OF A KILLAH by Ghostface Killah; 9781250274274; 5/14/24